(forget I said that)

I heard the new Courtney Love single last night. It's rough. Not like the stuff off Celebrity Skin. More like Live Through This. This, of course, can only be a good thing. I'm pleasantly surprised, but I'm not going to go so far as to say I like it. Not on one listening.

It is snowing here also, and lying now. Nothing at storm levels, but it's fine and dry, so the breeze is whipping it up off the ground when it gusts.

Me too. On the BBC World Service's White Label show. T'was OK imho. The show was quite good, and that reviewer had some sensible things to say - I doubt next week's guest reviewer from Smash Hits will be half as good tho'.

Hmmm. I was quite disappointed by it. I don't think they did the smooth commercial rock bit as well as they did the harsher stuff. I'd have been quite happy if they'd stuck with the "Pretty on the inside" sound.

I like Hole and have done ever since "Pretty on the Inside" but I'll be the first to admit how totally derivative they are. The early stuff was just Babes In Toyland or Bikinikill recorded in a toilet, "Live Through This" was Nirvana with a girl singer and "Celebrity Skin" (for obvious reasons) sounded like The Smashing Pumpkins.

I guess the reason I like Hole is because those are all good points of reference, but I just happen to like the Pumpkins a bit more than the others (there go my Cool Points for the day!)... :)

That's a bit harsh. Love always seemed to have a better turn of phrase that BiT or (as far as I can tell) Bikini Kill, and Live Through This didn't sound any more like Nirvana than a lot of stuff at the time did. It didn't really move towards Nevermind compared to the first album, it just cleaned up a bit. If she was trying to be like Nirvana, then the most obvious thing would have been a big loose grungy guitar sound, which they didn't have.

I was thinking more songwriting style than production. I mean "Doll Parts", for example, is pure Nirvana. I can almost hear Kurt sing it.

I do take your point about most things trying to sound like Nirvana around that time though.

I dunno, I guess I just see her as being a bit of a songwriting chameleon (or maybe even songwriting sponge?), just latching onto whoever's close to her at the time when she decides to start making an album, then aping their style...

Maybe I'm being unfair, although like I say, I do rather enjoy her records even if they are a bit derivative.

Foolishness

I heard the trailer for that World Service program where Courtney Love was described as a "controversial rocker". I was sure that something didn't quite add up there until I realised that I was thinking of Courtney Pine.